TAUNTON — A group of volunteers in Taunton is rallying the troops to clean up the city and improve the environment on Earth Day, while also asking for help to identify areas of the community that are worst hit by litter.

It will be the 24th annual Earth Day Cleanup organized by the Taunton Ecology Awareness Movement, a nonprofit in the city that aims to gain as many volunteers as possible to help them dispose of litter, deal with illegally dumped materials and beautify the community. The event is scheduled for April 26, from 8:30 a.m. to noon, first meeting in the parking lot behind the old City Hall on Summer Street, organizers said.

“It’s one of these things that every little bit helps,” said Lee Ann Tavares, co-coordinator for the Taunton Ecology Awareness Movement. “Also, you have to think of the broken-window theory, that if the trash is just left there eventually there will be more and more broken windows so it seems like nobody cares. We each can do our part in helping to pick up and take pride in our city and do what we can.”

Tavares said she hopes volunteers who plan on attending can be the “eyes” of the organizers of the event to better direct the effort to areas that need to be cleaned. She also asked for Taunton residents to tell them where large items are dumped in wooded areas or left on the side of the road, so the group can pick up and deliver the items to the city dump.

“Sometimes you drive by a certain area all the time and you notice a significant amount of litter,” Tavares said. “Whether on the way to work or school, we’d like people to be our eyes and give us ideas of places that need to be cleaned, and hopefully we’ll have enough volunteers to go out to all those places and remove those unsightly materials.”

The Taunton Ecology Awareness Movement said it will give free T-shirts to the first 100 volunteers who sign up. The cleanup will be followed by a pizza party, organizers said.

“Small areas or large areas to clean are great,” said Karen Kullas, co-coordinator of the Taunton Ecology Awareness Movement. “Pick your neighborhood or pick another location. It’s a great feeling to help clean up in the city and make it look better.”

Kullas said participating in the Earth Day Clean-up is a good way to get more people to develop a vested interest in developing a community that is clean and eco-friendly.

“That way, they can donate their time and energy and be part of the community, and have sense of ownership,” Kullas said. “If they want to clean up their neighborhood or area they frequent, we can send folks there to help them and help everyone become more a part of the community and beautify Taunton.”